Managing data transmissions over a network connection

ABSTRACT

In various example embodiments, a system and method for managing media bandwidth usage are disclosed. One disclosed method includes determining a network connection state of a computing device, receiving a request that requests media content, altering the request to request a synthetic representation of the media content instead of the media content in response to the network connection state being one of a set of predefined network connection states and the media content violating one or more restrictions of the network connection state, and requesting the media content in response to a user selecting the synthetic representation.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to electronictransmission of media content and, more particularly, but not by way oflimitation, to managing data transmission over a network connection tolimit bandwidth usage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and cannot be considered aslimiting its scope.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a networked system, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a systemfor managing media bandwidth.

FIG. 3 is an illustration depicting a user interface, according to oneexample embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an illustration depicting one example of a text overlay,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for managing mediabandwidth, according to one example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for managing mediabandwidth, according to one example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for managing mediabandwidth, according to one example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions may be executed forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

The headings provided herein are merely for convenience and do notnecessarily affect the scope or meaning of the terms used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program products thatembody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of variousembodiments of the inventive subject matter. It will be evident,however, to those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the inventivesubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail.

In various example embodiments, a system is configured to determine anetwork connection state of a computing device. A network connectionstate as described herein includes at least a state or condition of anetwork connection between the computing device and another computingdevice, as will be further described in later paragraphs. In oneexample, the network connection state is based, at least in part, on anetwork transmission speed limitation of the network connection.

The system may then receive a request (e.g., from a user) for mediacontent from a remote system. The system, in one example embodiment,alters the request to request a synthetic representation of the mediacontent instead of the media content in response to the networkconnection state being one of a set of predefined network connectionstates and the media content violating one or more restrictions of thenetwork connection state. In certain embodiments, a syntheticrepresentation is an alternate media object that represents therequested media content. In one example embodiment, the alternate mediaobject consumes less bandwidth than the requested media content.

In one example, in response to limited network bandwidth, the system mayalter a request for media content that exceeds a certain size so that asmaller synthetic representation of the media content is transmitted. Inthis way, the user of the system may not need to wait for transmissionof the media content to interact with the system.

In other embodiments, the system determines when to transmit theoriginally requested media content in response to interaction with theuser, as will be further described. In one example, in response to theuser selecting the synthetic representation, the system requests themedia content.

With reference to FIG. 1, an example embodiment of a high-levelclient-server-based network architecture 100 is shown. A networkedsystem 102, in the example forms of a network-based marketplace orpayment system, provides server-side functionality via a network 104(e.g., the Internet or a wide area network (WAN)) to one or more clientdevices 110. FIG. 1 illustrates, for example, a web client 112 (e.g., abrowser, such as the Internet Explorer® browser developed by Microsoft®Corporation of Redmond, Wash. State), client application(s) 114, and abandwidth management system 150, as will be further described, executingon the client device 110.

The client device 110 may comprise, but is not limited to, a mobilephone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, tablet, ultra book, netbook, laptop, multi-processor system,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, game console,set-top box, or any other communication device that a user may utilizeto access the networked system 102. In some embodiments, the clientdevice 110 may comprise a display module (not shown) to displayinformation (e.g., in the form of user interfaces). In furtherembodiments, the client device 110 may comprise one or more of a touchscreen, accelerometer, gyroscope, camera, microphone, global positioningsystem (GPS) device, and so forth. The client device 110 may be a deviceof a user that is used to perform a transaction involving digitalproducts within the networked system 102. In one embodiment, thenetworked system 102 is a network-based marketplace that responds torequests for product listings, publishes publications comprising productlistings of products available on the network-based marketplace, andmanages payments for these marketplace transactions.

One or more users 106 may be a person, a machine, or other means ofinteracting with the client device 110. In embodiments, the user 106 isnot part of the network architecture 100, but may interact with thenetwork architecture 100 via the client device 110 or another means. Forexample, one or more portions of the network 104 may be an ad hocnetwork, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), alocal area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a WAN, a wireless WAN(WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, aportion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellulartelephone network, a wireless network, a WiFi network, a WiMax network,another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks.

Each client device 110 may include one or more applications (alsoreferred to as “apps”) such as, but not limited to, a web browser,messaging application, electronic mail (email) application, e-commercesite application (also referred to as a marketplace application), andthe like. In some embodiments, if the e-commerce site application isincluded in a given client device 110, then this application isconfigured to locally provide the user interface and at least some ofthe functionalities of the e-commerce site, with the applicationconfigured to communicate with the networked system 102, on an as neededbasis, for data and/or processing capabilities not locally available(e.g., access to a database of products available for sale, toauthenticate a user, to verify a method of payment, etc.). Conversely,if the e-commerce site application is not included in the client device110, the client device 110 may use its web browser to access thee-commerce site (or a variant thereof) hosted on the networked system102.

One or more users 106 may be a person, a machine, or other means ofinteracting with the client device 110. In example embodiments, the user106 is not part of the network architecture 100, but may interact withthe network architecture 100 via the client device 110 or other means.For instance, the user 106 provides input (e.g., touch screen input oralphanumeric input) to the client device 110 and the input iscommunicated to the networked system 102 via the network 104. In thisinstance, the networked system 102, in response to receiving the inputfrom the user 106, communicates information to the client device 110 viathe network 104 to be presented to the user 106. In this way, the user106 can interact with the networked system 102 using the client device110.

An application program interface (API) server 120 and a web server 122are coupled to, and provide programmatic and web interfaces respectivelyto, one or more application server(s) 140. The application server(s) 140may host one or more publication systems 142 and payment systems 144,each of which may comprise one or more modules or applications and eachof which may be embodied as hardware, software, firmware, or anycombination thereof. The application server(s) 140 are, in turn, shownto be coupled to one or more database servers 124 that facilitate accessto one or more information storage repositories or database(s) 126. Inan example embodiment, the database(s) 126 are storage devices thatstore information (e.g., publications or listings) to be posted to thepublication system(s) 142. The database(s) 126 may also store digitalproduct information, in accordance with example embodiments.

Additionally, a third party application 132, executing on third partyserver(s) 130, is shown as having programmatic access to the networkedsystem 102 via the programmatic interface provided by the API server120. For example, the third party application 132, utilizing informationretrieved from the networked system 102, supports one or more featuresor functions on a website hosted by the third party. The third partywebsite, for example, provides one or more promotional, marketplace, orpayment functions that are supported by the relevant applications of thenetworked system 102.

The publication system(s) 142 may provide a number of publicationfunctions and services to users 106 that access the networked system102. The payment system(s) 144 may likewise provide a number offunctions to perform or facilitate payments and transactions. While thepublication system(s) 142 and payment system(s) 144 are shown in FIG. 1to both form part of the networked system 102, it will be appreciatedthat, in alternative embodiments, each system 142 and 144 may form partof a payment service that is separate and distinct from the networkedsystem 102. In some embodiments, the payment system(s) 144 may form partof the publication system(s) 142.

In one example embodiment, the bandwidth management system 150 providesfunctionality operable to determine a network connection state of theclient device 110, receive a request for media content via a networkconnection, alter the request to request a synthetic representation ofthe media content instead of the media content in response to thenetwork connection state being one of a set of predefined networkconnection states and the media content violating one or morerestrictions of the network connection state, and request the mediacontent in response to the user 106 selecting the syntheticrepresentation.

In another example embodiment, the synthetic representation is a genericimage. In one example, the media content is an image of an automobileand the synthetic representation is a generic image of an automobile. Inone example, the generic image is stored on the client device 110 sothat the client device 110 may display the generic image withouttransmitting the media content over the network connection.

In another example embodiment, the synthetic representation includes atext overlay providing information about the requested media content. Inone example embodiment, the text overlay includes at least one of a sizeof the media content, an estimated time to transmit the media content,an estimated cost to transmit the media content, a category of the mediacontent, and a property of a product represented by the media content.Of course, the information may include other properties of the requestedmedia content, and this disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In one example embodiment, the synthetic representation includes anindicated portion of the synthetic representation, the bandwidthmanagement system 150 following a link associated with the media contentin response to the user 106 selecting a non-indicated portion of thesynthetic representation. In this example embodiment, the user 106 maydownload the media content by selecting the indicated portion or mayalternatively follow a link associated with the media content withouttransmitting the media content over the network connection.

In another example embodiment, the bandwidth management system 150follows a link associated with the media content in response to the user106 selecting the synthetic representation a second time. In one exampleembodiment, the media content is a video and the bandwidth managementsystem 150 alters a request for the video to a request for an animatedimage wherein at least one frame of the animated image includes aninformational text overlay.

In another example embodiment, the network connection state is one ofbandwidth capabilities below a threshold value, bandwidth restrictionsbelow a threshold value, metered bandwidth, disallowed media types, anduser restrictions, as will be further described.

In another example embodiment, the user 106 may use a first gesture typeto select the synthetic representation and a second gesture type toperform an action associated with the media content. In one example, asingle click causes transmission of the media content to the clientdevice 110 while a double click causes the bandwidth management system150 to follow a link associated with the media content. In this way, theuser 106 may choose whether to download the media content or mayalternatively interact with the networked system 102 without causingdownload of the media content.

While the client-server-based network architecture 100 shown in FIG. 1employs a client-server architecture, the present inventive subjectmatter is of course not limited to such an architecture, and couldequally well find application in a distributed, or peer-to-peer,architecture system, for example. The various publication system(s) 142,payment system(s) 144, and bandwidth management system 150 could also beimplemented as standalone software programs, which do not necessarilyhave networking capabilities.

The web client 112 may access the various publication and paymentsystems 142 and 144 via the web interface supported by the web server122. Similarly, the bandwidth management system 150 may communicate withthe networked system 102 via a programmatic client. The programmaticclient accesses the various services and functions provided by thepublication and payment systems 142 and 144 via the programmaticinterface provided by the API server 120. The programmatic client may,for example, be a seller application (e.g., the Turbo Lister applicationdeveloped by eBay® Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) to enable sellers toauthor and manage listings on the networked system 102 in an offlinemanner, and to perform batch-mode communications between theprogrammatic client and the networked system 102.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment 200 of thebandwidth management system 150. In this example embodiment, thebandwidth management system 150 includes a network module 220, a requestmodule 240, an adjustment module 260, and a media module 280.

In one example embodiment, the network module 220 determines a networkconnection state of the client device 110. In one example, a networkconnection of the client device 110 exhibits bandwidth capabilities thatare below a threshold value. For example, where a threshold networktransmission rate is 10 MB per second and previous transmission of mediacontent to the client device 110 exhibited a network transmission speedbelow 10 MB per second, the network module 220 determines that thenetwork connection state is limited to transmission of media contentbelow 10 MB per second.

In another example embodiment, the network connection is a hardware 100Mbit connection and the network module 220 determines that a networktransmission rate for the network connection is 100 Megabits per second.

In another example embodiment, the network module 220 receives one ormore values that identify a metered network connection. In one example,the network module 220 requests an indicator of a metered state of thenetwork connection. For example, an operating system may transmit one ormore indicators to the network module 220 that indicate a meteredamount. In one example, the metered amount is one dollar per gigabyte.In another example, the metered amount is $0.10 per megabyte. Of courseother metered amounts may be used, and this disclosure is meant toinclude all such amounts.

In another example embodiment, the network module 220 receives one ormore indicators that identify disallowed media types. In one example,the network module 220 may receive an indicator that specifies thatvideo media types are not allowed to be transmitted on the networkconnection. Of course, other media types may be disallowed on thenetwork connection, and this disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In another example embodiment, the network module 220 receives one ormore indicators from a user of the bandwidth management system 150 thatindicate a user restriction for the network connection. For example, inone embodiment, the network module 220 queries an operating system usingone or more libraries to determine a user restriction configured by theuser. In one example, the user restriction is a transmission rate. Inanother example, the user restriction is a disallowed media type. Inanother example, the user restriction is an amount of data transmittedover the network connection over a certain period of time. In oneexample, the period of time is one day and the amount of datatransmitted is one gigabyte. In this way the network module 220identifies that the network connection is limited to one gigabyte ofdata transmitted per day. Of course other time periods or amounts ofdata may be used, and this disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In one example embodiment, the request module 240 is configured toreceive a request from a user of the bandwidth management system 150. Asone skilled in the art may appreciate, the request module 240 mayreceive the request from the user in a wide variety of different ways.

In one example, the user of the bandwidth management system 150 requestsmedia content from a remote device. In one example, the networkconnection is the transmission medium to be used to transmit the mediacontent. In one example, the user requests a web page from a remote webserver. In another example, the user requests streaming media contentfrom a remote media server, such as, but not limited to, audio, music,video, or the like.

In one example embodiment, the adjustment module 260 alters the requestto request a synthetic representation of the media content instead ofthe media content in response to the network connection state being oneof a set of predefined network connection states and the media contentviolating one or more restrictions of the network connection state.

In one example, the requested media content is a video, and theadjustment module 260 requests an animated image (one example of asynthetic representation of the video) representing the video instead ofthe actual video. In one example, this is in response to the networkconnection not allowing video content so that transmitting the mediacontent over the network connection would violate a restriction of thenetwork connection. In another example, the requested video exceeds abandwidth limitation of the network connection such that transmittingthe video violates a restriction of the network connection. In anotherexample, the video size exceeds a threshold data amount for a period oftime, as previously described.

In another example embodiment, the request module 240 identifies acategory of the media content. For example, the request module 240 mayrequest that a remote system identify a category for an image. In oneexample, the media content is an image of a tree. In this example,instead of requesting the image of the tree, the request module 240indicates that the media content is an image of a tree. In response, theadjustment module 260 requests a generic image of a tree instead of themedia content. Therefore, in certain embodiments, the syntheticrepresentation is a simplified version of the requested media content.In one example, the synthetic representation is sufficiently similar tothe requested media content that a user can determine the content of therequested media content based on the synthetic representation.

In one example embodiment, the generic image is locally stored andaccessible by the bandwidth management system 150. In this way, thebandwidth management system 150 reduces bandwidth usage on the networkconnection by requesting a synthetic representation of media contentinstead of the media content in response to the media content violatingone or more network connection restrictions.

Of course, other classes or categories of images may be used, and thisdisclosure is not limited in this regard. In certain examples, mediacontent classes include, but are not limited to, car, plant, scenery,personal portrait, group of people, animal, certain type of animal, abuilding, other, or the like. In one example, the category or type of animage is determined based, at least in part, on a category of an auctionproduct associated with the media content. In one example, an onlineauction for a car is requested by the user. In response, the adjustmentmodule 260 modifies a request for an image of the product to a requestfor a generic image of a car. In one example, the syntheticrepresentation is marked to indicate that it is a syntheticrepresentation of the media content instead of the requested mediacontent.

In another example embodiment, in response to the request module 240receiving a request for media content and the media content violatingone or more restrictions of the network connection state, the adjustmentmodule 260 alters the request. In one example, the adjustment module 260alters the request by requesting a lower resolution version of the mediacontent. In another example embodiment, in response to successiverequests for the media content, the adjustment module 260 requestssuccessive versions of the media content with higher resolutions. In oneexample, the media content is an image. In response to an additionalrequest for the image, the adjustment module 260 requests a higherresolution version of the image. In one example, the image's originalresolution is 5000×5000. In response to a first request for the image,the adjustment module 260 requests a 100×100 version of the image. Inresponse to a second request for the image, the adjustment module 260alters the request to a request for a 500×500 version of the image. Inresponse to a third request for the image, the adjustment module 260 mayrequest a full-resolution version of the image. In other embodiments,the adjustment module 260 requests a reduced color depth for pixels inthe image. Of course, one skilled in the art may recognize other ways tomodify an image such that it consumes less data space, and theadjustment module 260 may request any such modifications of mediacontent.

In one example embodiment, the network connection is kept open in orderto transmit successive synthetic representations of a media contentobject. In this way delays associated with repetitive opening andclosing of a network connection are avoided. In one example, metadata isincluded with each transmission of a synthetic representation mediacontent so that the adjustment module 260 can consider the metadata todetermine whether transmitting an additional synthetic representationwould violate one or more restrictions of the network connection stateto alter a request for media content. In one example, the adjustmentmodule 240 determines a difference in size between a previous syntheticrepresentation and an updated synthetic representation. In response to asubsequent media content object violating a restrictions of the networkconnection state, the adjustment module 260 may alter the request in anyway described herein.

In another example embodiment, the adjustment module 260 alters therequest to include metadata that describes the state of the networkconnection. In one example, the request is for a web page and theadjustment module 260 alters the request to indicate that the state ofthe network connection is restricted to not include images. In thisexample, the adjustment module 260 alters the request to indicate thatthe network connection is so restricted. In this way, the adjustmentmodule 260 informs the remote web server that images are not to beincluded in a returned web page.

In another example embodiment, the adjustment module 260 alters therequest based, at least in part, on a type of action performed by theuser to request the media content. In one example, a single click thatrequests the media content is altered by the adjustment module 260 torequest a low-resolution version of the media content, while a doubleclick that requests the media content causes the adjustment module 260to request a full-resolution version of the media content.

In another example embodiment, the adjustment module 260 alters arequest for media content by requesting a text description of the mediacontent to be displayed in place of the media content. In one example,the adjustment module 260 requests a size of the media content, anestimated time to download the media content, an estimated cost todownload the media content, a category of the media content, a state ofthe media content, or a property of a product associated with the mediacontent.

In one example, the adjustment module 260 estimates a time to downloadthe media content in response to the network module 220 determining anestimated transmission speed for content being transmitted via thenetwork connection. In this example, the adjustment module 260 dividesthe size of the media content by the transmission speed of the networkconnection to estimate a time to download the media content.

In another example, the network module 220 receives an indicator thatthe network connection is metered and the adjustment module 260estimates a cost to download the media content by multiplying the sizeof the media content by the metered rate of the network connection.

In another example embodiment, the adjustment module 260 receives apreference from a user regarding which text values are to be included ina text overlay representing the media content. In one example, the userrequests the size of the media content and an estimated cost to downloadthe media content, and the adjustment module 260 includes those valuesin the text overlay that replaces the media content. In another exampleembodiment, the user preference includes a seller logo or othercustomized graphical element, or a custom seller message.

In one example embodiment, the adjustment module 260 partitions asynthetic representation into two or more portions and assigns thedifferent portions to perform different operations in response to a userselecting a portion. In one example, selecting one portion causes theadjustment module 260 to request the originally requested media contentwhile selecting another portion causes the adjustment module 260 tofollow a link associated with the media content.

As one skilled in the art may appreciate, selecting a portion of thesynthetic representation of the media content may include the userperforming any number of actions or inputs. In one example, an inputfrom a user is selected from a group consisting of a tap, a double tap,a drag, a pinch, a flick, a swipe, a touch and hold, a force touch, ashake, other inputs, or the like.

In another example embodiment, a single click causes the adjustmentmodule 260 to request the originally requested media content and a longtouch by the user causes the adjustment module 260 to follow a linkassociated with the media content. Other examples include a force touchabove a certain threshold force resulting in a different operation thana force touch below the certain threshold force.

In one example embodiment, as the bandwidth management system 150receives media content that may be requested by a user, the bandwidthmanagement system 150 generates various synthetic representations forthe media content. In certain examples, the synthetic representationsinclude a drawing representing the media content, a cartoon that issimilar to the media content, a text overlay that includes informationabout the media content, various resolutions of the media content, andan animated image for media content that is a video, otherrepresentations, or the like.

In one example embodiment, the media module 280 is configured to requestthe media content in response to the user selecting the syntheticrepresentation in any one of the ways described herein.

In one example, the media content is an image of a product for sale. Auser, using the bandwidth management system 150, submits a query wherethe product for sale is included in search results. The network module220 determines that the network connection state is media sizerestrictions, because the user indicates a preference to not downloadmedia that is above a certain size using a mobile computing device andthe mobile computing device reports a metered network connection. Theadjustment module 260, in response to a restriction of the networkconnection not allowing media content that exceeds 1 Megabyte and aproduct image exceeding 1 Megabyte in size, alters the request torequest a synthetic representation of the product image. In thisexample, the synthetic representation is a text overlay as describedherein.

In response to the user selecting the synthetic representation (in thisexample, the text overlay), the media module 280 requests the mediacontent. In response to the user selecting the media content, whichreplaced the synthetic representation, the media module 280 follows alink associated with the media content.

FIG. 3 is an illustration 300 depicting a resulting user interface,according to one example embodiment. In this example embodiment, thenetwork module 220 determines that the network connection state islimited bandwidth and the user queries for products available forpurchase at an online marketplace using a search term “Audi.” In thisexample, the adjustment module 260 modifies the query to indicate apreference for synthetic representations of images associated withsearch results.

In one example embodiment, a product 302 in the search results includesan Audi TT, which is an automobile. In this example, the syntheticrepresentation is a generic image 304 of an automobile because theproduct is an automobile. Another product 310 in the search resultsincludes tires for an Audi, and the synthetic representation is ageneric image 312 of tires because the product is in a “tires” category.In one example embodiment, in response to a user selecting the genericimage 304, the media module 280 requests the media content which is theoriginally submitted image of the product 302 for sale.

FIG. 4 is an illustration 400 depicting one example of a text overlay,according to one embodiment. In this example embodiment, the adjustmentmodule 260 partitions a synthetic representation (e.g., an image) into afirst portion 402 and a second portion 410.

In one example embodiment, in response to the user selecting the secondportion 410, the media module 280 requests the original media content.In response to the user selecting the first portion 402, the mediamodule 280 follows a link associated with the synthetic representation.In this example embodiment, the synthetic representation is an imagethat includes a text overlay depicting various properties of the mediacontent and/or properties of a product associated with the mediacontent.

In another example embodiment, the text overlay indicates that the sizeof the media content is 7 Megabytes, an estimated download time is 12seconds, an estimated download cost is 19 cents, the category of theproduct associated with the media content is “Apparel,” and the productassociated with the media content is “new.”

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 500 for managing mediabandwidth, according to one example embodiment. Operations in the method500 may be performed by the bandwidth management system 150, usingmodules described above with respect to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 5, themethod 500 includes operations 510, 520, 530, and 540.

In one example embodiment, the method 500 begins and at operation 510,the network module 220 determines a network connection state of thesystem performing the method 500. In one example, the network module 220determines that the network connection is in a state that restrictscertain media content type.

The method 500 continues at operation 520 and the request module 240receives a request, from a user of the system, for media content via thenetwork connection. In one example, the user queries for products forsale at an online marketplace.

The method 500 continues at operation 530 and the adjustment module 260alters the request to request a synthetic representation of the mediacontent instead of the media content in response to the networkconnection state being one of a set of predefined network connectionstates and the media content violating one or more restrictions of thenetwork connection state. In one example, the network connection stateincludes videos not being allowed and the media type requested is avideo. In response, the adjustment module 260 requests an animated imageinstead of the video. In another example embodiment, at least one frameof the animated image includes a text overlay presenting informationabout the media content.

The method 500 continues at operation 540 and the media module 280requests the media content in response to the user selecting thesynthetic representation. In one example, the user selects a textoverlay representing an image and the media module 280 requests theimage in response to the user selecting the text overlay. In anotherexample embodiment, in response to the user selecting the syntheticrepresentation a second time, the media module 280 follows a linkassociated with the media content.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 600 for managing mediabandwidth, according to one example embodiment. Operations in the method600 may be performed by the bandwidth management system 150, usingmodules described above with respect to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 6, themethod 600 includes operations 610, 620, 630, 640, 650, 670, 680, and690.

In one example embodiment, the method 600 begins and at operation 610,the network module 220 determines a network connection state of thesystem performing the method 600. In one example, the network module 220determines that the network connection state is bandwidth limited belowa threshold transmission speed.

The method 600 continues at operation 620 and the request module 240receives a request for media content via the network connection. Themethod 600 continues and at operation 630, the request module 240determines whether the requested media content violates a restriction ofthe network connection state. In one example, the request is for a videothat exceeds the threshold transmission speed of the network connectionstate. In response to the video not exceeding the threshold transmissionspeed, the method 600 continues at operation 670.

In response to the video exceeding the threshold transmission speed, themethod 600 continues at operation 640 and the adjustment module 260alters the request to request a synthetic representation of the mediacontent instead of the media content. In one example, the networkconnection state includes a user restriction that images are not to betransmitted via the network connection. In response, the adjustmentmodule 260 requests a generic image that is loaded from local storageinstead of downloading the image.

The method 600 continues at operation 650 and the media module 280determines whether the user selected the synthetic representation. Inresponse to the user not selecting the synthetic representation, themethod 600 continues at operation 620. In response to the user selectingthe synthetic representation, the method 600 continues at operation 670.

At operation 670, the media module 280 requests the media content. Themethod 600 continues at operation 680 and the media module 280determines whether the user selects the media content. In response tothe user not selecting the media content, the method 600 continues atoperation 620. In response to the user selecting the media content, themethod 600 continues at operation 690 and the media module 280 performsan action associated with the media content. In one example, the mediamodule 280 follows a link associated with the media content.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 700 for managing mediabandwidth, according to one example embodiment. Operations in the method700 may be performed by the bandwidth management system 150, usingmodules described above with respect to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 7, themethod 700 includes operations 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, and 770.

In one example embodiment, the method 700 begins and at operation 720,the request module 240 receives a request for media content via anetwork connection. The method 700 continues at operation 730 and thenetwork module 220 determines a network connection limitation of thesystem performing the method 700. In one example, the network connectionlimitation of the network connection state is a user limitation thatrestricts audio media content during a specific period of time.

The method 700 continues at operation 740 and the network module 220determines whether the network connection limitation is predefined. Inresponse to the network connection limitation not being predefined, themethod 700 continues at operation 770. In response to the networkconnection limitation being predefined, the method 700 continues atoperation 750 and the network module 220 determines a network connectionstate based, at least in part, on the network connection limitation. Inone example, an audio media limitation based on time of day is apredefined network connection limitation, and in response, the networkmodule 220 determines that the network connection limitation ispredefined.

The method 700 continues at operation 760 and the adjustment module 260alters the request to request a synthetic representation of the mediacontent instead of the media content. In one example, a syntheticrepresentation of audio media content is a textual representation ofwords spoken in the audio media content. The method 700 continues atoperation 765 and the adjustment module 260 determines whether the userselected the synthetic representation.

In response to the user not selecting the synthetic representation, themethod 700 ends. In response to the user selecting the syntheticrepresentation, the method continues at operation 770. At operation 770and the media module 280 requests the media content in response to theuser selecting the synthetic representation.

Modules, Components, and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium) orhardware modules. A “hardware module” is a tangible unit capable ofperforming certain operations and may be configured or arranged in acertain physical manner. In various example embodiments, one or morecomputer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computersystem, or a server computer system) or one or more hardware modules ofa computer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may beconfigured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) asa hardware module that operates to perform certain operations asdescribed herein.

In some embodiments, a hardware module may be implemented mechanically,electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, ahardware module may include dedicated circuitry or logic that ispermanently configured to perform certain operations. For example, ahardware module may be a special-purpose processor, such as aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware module may also includeprogrammable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured bysoftware to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware modulemay include software executed by a general-purpose processor or otherprogrammable processor. Once configured by such software, hardwaremodules become specific machines (or specific components of a machine)uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and are no longergeneral-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that the decision toimplement a hardware module mechanically, in dedicated and permanentlyconfigured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g.,configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the phrase “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. As used herein,“hardware-implemented module” refers to a hardware module. Consideringembodiments in which hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g.,programmed), each of the hardware modules need not be configured orinstantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardwaremodule comprises a general-purpose processor configured by software tobecome a special-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware modules) at different times. Softwareaccordingly configures a particular processor or processors, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware module at one instance oftime and to constitute a different hardware module at a differentinstance of time.

Hardware modules can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiplehardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achievedthrough signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses)between or among two or more of the hardware modules. In embodiments inwhich multiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware modules may beachieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of informationin memory structures to which the multiple hardware modules have access.For example, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions describedherein. As used herein, “processor-implemented module” refers to ahardware module implemented using one or more processors.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented modules. Moreover, the one or more processors mayalso operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application ProgramInterface (API)).

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployedacross a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processorsor processor-implemented modules may be located in a single geographiclocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or aserver farm). In other example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented modules may be distributed across a number ofgeographic locations.

Machine and Software Architecture

The modules, methods, applications, and so forth described inconjunction with FIGS. 2-7 are implemented in some embodiments in thecontext of a machine and an associated software architecture. Thesections below describe representative software architecture(s) andmachine (e.g., hardware) architecture(s) that are suitable for use withthe disclosed embodiments.

Software architectures are used in conjunction with hardwarearchitectures to create devices and machines tailored to particularpurposes. For example, a particular hardware architecture coupled with aparticular software architecture will create a mobile device, such as amobile phone, tablet device, or so forth. A slightly different hardwareand software architecture may yield a smart device for use in the“internet of things,” while yet another combination produces a servercomputer for use within a cloud computing architecture. Not allcombinations of such software and hardware architectures are presentedhere, as those of skill in the art can readily understand how toimplement the inventive subject matter in different contexts from thedisclosure contained herein.

Software Architecture

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a softwarearchitecture 802 that may be installed on a machine, according to someexample embodiments. FIG. 8 is merely a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture, and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 802 may be executing onhardware such as a machine 900 of FIG. 9 that includes, among otherthings, processors 910, memory/storage 930, and I/O components 950. Arepresentative hardware layer 804 is illustrated in FIG. 8 and canrepresent, for example, the machine 900 of FIG. 9. The representativehardware layer 804 comprises one or more processing units 806 havingassociated executable instructions 808. The executable instructions 808represent the executable instructions of the software architecture 802,including implementation of the methods, modules, and so forth of FIGS.2-7. The hardware layer 804 also includes memory and/or storage modules810, which also have the executable instructions 808. The hardware layer804 may also comprise other hardware 812 which represents any otherhardware of the hardware layer 804, such as the other hardwareillustrated as part of the machine 900.

In the example architecture of FIG. 8, the software architecture 802 maybe conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 802 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 814, libraries 816,frameworks/middleware 818, applications 820, and a presentation layer844. Operationally, the applications 820 and/or other components withinthe layers may invoke API calls 824 through the software stack andreceive a response, returned values, and so forth illustrated asmessages 826 in response to the API calls 824. The layers illustratedare representative in nature and not all software architectures have alllayers. For example, some mobile or special-purpose operating systemsmay not provide a frameworks/middleware 818 layer, while others mayprovide such a layer. Other software architectures may includeadditional or different layers.

The operating system 814 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 814 may include, for example, akernel 828, services 830, and drivers 832. In another exampleembodiment, the network module 220 is implemented as part of theoperating system 814. The kernel 828 may act as an abstraction layerbetween the hardware and the other software layers. For example, thekernel 828 may be responsible for memory management, processormanagement (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking,security settings, and so on. The services 830 may provide other commonservices for the other software layers. The drivers 832 may beresponsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware.For instance, the drivers 832 may include display drivers, cameradrivers, Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communicationdrivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers,audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on thehardware configuration.

The libraries 816 may provide a common infrastructure that may beutilized by the applications 820 and/or other components and/or layers.The libraries 816 typically provide functionality that allows othersoftware modules to perform tasks in an easier fashion than to interfacedirectly with the underlying operating system 814 functionality (e.g.,kernel 828, services 830, and/or drivers 832). The libraries 816 mayinclude system libraries 834 (e.g., C standard library) that may providefunctions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulationfunctions, mathematic functions, and the like. In addition, thelibraries 816 may include API libraries 836 such as media libraries(e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of variousmedia formats such as MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphicslibraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework that may be used to render 2D and3D graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite thatmay provide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g.,WebKit that may provide web browsing functionality), and the like. Thelibraries 816 may also include a wide variety of other libraries 838 toprovide many other APIs to the applications 820 and other softwarecomponents/modules. In one example embodiment, the network module 220communicates with a library via an API to determine a network connectionlimitation.

In one example embodiment, the bandwidth management system 150 a isimplemented as an application 820. In another example embodiment, thebandwidth management system 150 b is implemented as a framework and/ormiddleware 818. In one example embodiment, the network module 22 c isimplemented as part of the operating system 814.

The frameworks/middleware 818 layer may provide a higher-level commoninfrastructure that may be utilized by the applications 820 and/or othersoftware components/modules. For example, the frameworks/middleware 818may provide various graphic user interface (GUI) functions, high-levelresource management, high-level location services, and so forth. Theframeworks/middleware 818 may provide a broad spectrum of other APIsthat may be utilized by the applications 820 and/or other softwarecomponents/modules, some of which may be specific to a particularoperating system 814 or platform.

The applications 820 include built-in applications 840 and/or thirdparty applications 842. Examples of representative built-in applications840 may include, but are not limited to, a contacts application, abrowser application, a book reader application, a location application,a media application, a messaging application, and/or a game application.The third party applications 842 may include any of the built-inapplications 840 as well as a broad assortment of other applications. Ina specific example, the third party application 842 (e.g., anapplication developed using the Android™ or iOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform)may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asiOS™, Android™, Windows® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Inthis example, the third party application 842 may invoke the API calls824 provided by the mobile operating system, such as operating system814, to facilitate functionality described herein.

The applications 820 may utilize built-in operating system functions(e.g., kernel 828, services 830, and/or drivers 832), libraries (e.g.,system libraries 834, API libraries 836, and other libraries 838), andframeworks/middleware 818 to create user interfaces to interact withusers of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systems,interactions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such asthe presentation layer 844. In these systems, the application/module“logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/module thatinteract with a user.

In one example embodiment, the bandwidth management system 150 a isimplemented as an application 820. In another example, each of themodules of the bandwidth management system 150 is implemented as one ormore applications 820 that communicate with each other as described inFIG. 6.

Some software architectures utilize virtual machines. In the example ofFIG. 8, this is illustrated by a virtual machine 848. A virtual machinecreates a software environment where applications/modules can execute asif they were executing on a hardware machine (such as the machine 900 ofFIG. 9, for example). A virtual machine is hosted by a host operatingsystem (e.g., operating system 814 in FIG. 8) and typically, althoughnot always, has a virtual machine monitor 846, which manages theoperation of the virtual machine as well as the interface with the hostoperating system (e.g., operating system 814). A software architectureexecutes within the virtual machine 848, such as an operating system850, libraries 852, frameworks/middleware 854, applications 856, and/ora presentation layer 858. These layers of software architectureexecuting within the virtual machine 848 can be the same ascorresponding layers previously described or may be different.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-Readable Medium

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine 900 in the form ofa computer system within which a set of instructions may be executed forcausing the machine 900 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

Specifically, FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine900 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions916 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 900 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. For example,the instructions 916 may cause the machine 900 to execute the flowdiagrams of FIGS. 5-7. Additionally, or alternatively, the instructions916 may implement the network module 220, the request module 240, theadjustment module 260, and/or the media module 280 of FIG. 2, and soforth. The instructions 916 transform the general, non-programmedmachine into a particular machine programmed to carry out the describedand illustrated functions in the manner described. In alternativeembodiments, the machine 900 operates as a standalone device or may becoupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment,the machine 900 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or aclient machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine 900 may comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, aclient computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant(PDA), an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smarthome device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a webappliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or anymachine capable of executing the instructions 916, sequentially orotherwise, that specify actions to be taken by the machine 900. Further,while only a single machine 900 is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include a collection of machines 900 that individuallyor jointly execute the instructions 916 to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein.

The machine 900 may include processors 910, memory 930, and I/Ocomponents 950, which may be configured to communicate with each othersuch as via a bus 902. In an example embodiment, the processors 910(e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction SetComputing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC)processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor(DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), aRadio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor, or anysuitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 912and a processor 914 that may execute the instructions 916. The term“processor” is intended to include a multi-core processor that maycomprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although FIG.9 shows multiple processors 910, the machine 900 may include a singleprocessor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores(e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core,multiple processors with multiples cores, or any combination thereof.

The memory/storage 930 may include a memory 932, such as a main memory,or other memory storage, and a storage unit 936, both accessible to theprocessors 910 such as via the bus 902. The storage unit 936 and memory932 store the instructions 916 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 916 mayalso reside, completely or partially, within the memory 932, within thestorage unit 936, within at least one of the processors 910 (e.g.,within the processor's cache memory), or any suitable combinationthereof, during execution thereof by the machine 900. Accordingly, thememory 932, the storage unit 936, and the memory of the processors 910are examples of machine-readable media.

As used herein, “machine-readable medium” means a device able to storeinstructions and data temporarily or permanently and may include, butnot be limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),buffer memory, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, cachememory, other types of storage (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM)), and/or any suitable combination thereof. The term“machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium ormultiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, orassociated caches and servers) able to store the instructions 916. Theterm “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include anymedium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storinginstructions (e.g., instructions 916) for execution by a machine (e.g.,machine 900), such that the instructions, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the machine (e.g., processors 910), cause the machine toperform any one or more of the methodologies described herein.Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a single storageapparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storagenetworks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term“machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se.

The I/O components 950 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 950 that are included in a particular machine will depend onthe type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones will likely include a touch input device or other such inputmechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include sucha touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 950may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 9. The I/Ocomponents 950 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 950 mayinclude output components 952 and input components 954. The outputcomponents 952 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 954 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or another pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 950 may includebiometric components 956, motion components 958, environmentalcomponents 960, or position components 962 among a wide array of othercomponents. For example, the biometric components 956 may includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 958 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 960 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gassensors to detect concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or tomeasure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that mayprovide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to asurrounding physical environment. The position components 962 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., Global Position System (GPS)receiver components), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 950 may include communication components 964 operableto couple the machine 900 to a network 104 or devices 970 via a coupling982 and a coupling 972 respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 964 may include a network interface component or othersuitable device to interface with the network 104. In further examples,the communication components 964 may include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 970 may be another machine or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).

Moreover, the communication components 964 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 964 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components964, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting an NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Transmission Medium

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 104may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi®network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, the network 104 or a portion of the network 104may include a wireless or cellular network and the coupling 982 may be aCode Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System forMobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellular orwireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 982 may implement anyof a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as SingleCarrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized(EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology,Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, thirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generationwireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, othersdefined by various standard-setting organizations, other long rangeprotocols, or other data transfer technology.

The instructions 916 may be transmitted or received over the network 104using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., anetwork interface component included in the communication components964) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols(e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions916 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via thecoupling 972 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 970. Theterm “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying theinstructions 916 for execution by the machine 900, and includes digitalor analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software.

Language

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Such embodimentsof the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individuallyor collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience andwithout intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application toany single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact,disclosed.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a network module thatdetermines a network connection state of a network connection of thesystem; a request module that receives a request, from a user of thesystem, that requests media content via the network connection; anadjustment module that alters the request to request a syntheticrepresentation of the media content instead of the media content inresponse to the network connection state being one of a set ofpredefined network connection states and the media content violating oneor more restrictions of the network connection state; and a media modulethat requests the media content in response to the user selecting thesynthetic representation.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thesynthetic representation is one of a generic image and an informationaltext overlay that includes information about the media content.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the informational text overlay includes atleast one of a size of the media content, an estimated time to transmitthe media content, an estimated cost to transmit the media content, acategory of the media content, and a property of a product representedby the media content.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein the genericimage is selected based on the generic image representing a category ofa product associated with the media content.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein selecting the synthetic representation includes selecting anindicated portion of the synthetic representation, the media modulefollowing a link associated with the media content in response to theuser selecting a non-indicated portion of the synthetic representation.6. The system of claim 1, wherein the media module further follows alink associated with the media content in response to the user selectingthe synthetic representation a second time.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the media content is a video and the adjustment module alters arequest for the video to a request for an animated image wherein atleast one frame of the animated image includes an informational textoverlay.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the network connection stateis one of bandwidth capabilities below a threshold value, bandwidthrestrictions below a threshold value, metered bandwidth, disallowedmedia types, and user restrictions.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein afirst gesture type selects the synthetic representation and a secondgesture type performs an action associated with the media content.
 10. Amethod comprising: determining a network connection state of a computingdevice; receiving a request, from a user of the computing device, thatrequests media content via a network connection; altering the request torequest a synthetic representation of the media content instead of themedia content in response to the network connection state being one of aset of predefined network connection states and the media contentviolating one or more restrictions of the network connection state; andrequesting the media content in response to the user selecting thesynthetic representation.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein thesynthetic representation is one of a generic image and an informationaltext overlay that includes information about the media content.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the informational text overlay includes atleast one of a size of the media content, an estimated time to transmitthe media content, an estimated cost to transmit the media content, acategory of the media content, and a property of a product representedby the media content.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the genericimage is selected based on the generic image representing a category ofa product associated with the media content.
 14. The method of claim 10,wherein selecting the synthetic representation includes selecting anindicated portion of the synthetic representation, the method furthercomprising following a link associated with the media content inresponse to the user selecting a non-indicated portion of the syntheticrepresentation.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the method furthercomprises following a link associated with the media content in responseto the user selecting the synthetic representation a second time. 16.The method of claim 10, wherein the media content is a video andaltering the request comprises altering a request for the video to arequest for an animated image wherein at least one frame of the animatedimage includes an informational text overlay.
 17. The method of claim10, wherein the network connection state is one of bandwidthcapabilities below a threshold value, bandwidth restrictions below athreshold value, metered bandwidth, disallowed media types, and userrestrictions.
 18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumcomprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors ofa machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:determining a network connection state of a machine; receiving arequest, from a user of the machine, that requests media content via anetwork connection; altering the request to request a syntheticrepresentation of the media content instead of the media content inresponse to the network connection state being one of a set ofpredefined network connection states and the media content violating oneor more restrictions of the network connection state; and requesting themedia content in response to the user selecting the syntheticrepresentation.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumof claim 18, wherein the synthetic representation is one of a genericimage and an informational text overlay that includes information aboutthe media content.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise performingan action associated with the media content in response to the userselecting the media content.